Christmas Challenge 08

Title: Christmas Challenge 5 of 12 Baby It's Cold Outside
Summary: snow, wet socks, warm blankets
Authors: Kiterie and Fuyu no Akegata
Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, if we got paid to do this we'd quit our jobs and do nothing but... and there'd be more smut. :P

It was dusk by the time Kakashi and Iruka began walking home through the snow. As they first left, their ears still rang with the happy shouts of the children starting their holidays, but eventually the falling whiteness muffled all sound except for the crunching of their feet in the snow. They held hands, leaning against each other as they talked softly, laughing and sharing as all lovers do. Kakashi had taken the Santa suit off and was wearing his uniform again, but had whimsically decided to keep the hat on, and the little white pom-pon on the end swayed gently as they trudged through the darkening evening.

"This is nice..." Iruka said, his arm linked with Kakashi's as they headed in the vague direction of his apartment. It had been awhile since they'd had a chance to spend time together. The hokage always tried to take care of as many missions before the holidays as possible so the fewest number of people would have to be away during them.

"Yeah. Finally have some time to just relax, see you for more than a few minutes." They didn't bother hurrying, despite the cold. Right now being together was the important thing. "Sorry about the carol, Iruka. I shouldn't have done that in front of the kids, even if it wasn't that bad."

Laughing, the chunin shook his head, pony-tail swishing at the motion. "No, you shouldn't have. If only because I know I'm going to be hearing that carol from them when they get back. Which means their parents will undoubtably hear it. And, that isn't going to be fun..." He shoved Kakashi with his shoulder. "But it was pretty damn funny and Tsunade seemed to enjoy it so I'll just point the angry parents in her direction. After all she's the one who made you Santa."

Kakashi shrugged. "It wasn't that bad... except for Gai. The elf suit was a bit much. Ah, but he enjoyed it. And Lee. Neji and Tenten not quite as much, I guess." He turned his head up to look at the sky as the continued, and felt the soft brush of snowflakes against the small patch of uncovered skin. "This is good, though. The holidays and everything. Being together. It's almost hard to believe things are quiet enough that I'll be here for Christmas this year. I usually volunteer when missions come up. I haven't had anyone to spend it with for a long time, always let the ones who did have people spend time with them..."

Iruka blushed slightly and leaned against Kakashi for a moment. "I've had friends for Christmas but never anything like this. Nothing ever seemed to work out that way around this time of year," he said shrugging. "Probably has to do with the stress and so many missions around this time of year."

Kakashi was silent, but he held Iruka close. The last time he'd stayed with anyone for Christmas, he'd been with his sensei, his team. It hadn't been perfect, they'd has as many lessons to learn about teamwork as Team Seven, but it had been good. How much better could this be, with Iruka?

Pulling his keys out of a pocket Iruka finally released the hold he had on his boyfriend's hand. "Coming in?" he asked, slipping it in the lock and releasing the jutsu that set the traps. "As much as I love the snow, I'd much rather be inside curled up than out here in it."

"Yeah, it'd be nice to warm up some. There were times in Snow Country I felt like I'd never be warm again. A long enough mission there, and you quickly lose some of your enthusiasm for snow, I guess." He followed Iruka and slid his snow-caked footwear off just inside the door.

Iruka kicked his shoes off and then hopped around, pulling the wet socks off before flinging them at a slowly growing pile beside the door. He toss them in to wash on Saturday, but for now the corner was as good a place as any in his opinion. "Why is it, no matter what I jutsu I use on my shoes my socks always end up soaked, even if the damn shoes themselves are dry?"

"Murphy's Second Postulation of Winter," Kakashi deadpanned as he removed his fingerless gloves. The mittens Iruka let him borrow were far more practical for days like this. "It's the correlary to the one that says the degree of temperature change and the rapidity with which the temperature drops and the wind speed picks up are inversely proportional to how warmly you didn't dress that day."

Laughing and shaking his head, Iruka padded into the living room. "I'm going to light the fireplace and make tea, you want to get the extra blankets out of the cupboard in the hall?"

"Mmmm, that sounds like a good idea." Kakashi went down the hall and retrieved more blankets than they really needed, especially if Iruka was building a fire, but if nothing else, they'd make a soft place to rest.

Iruka lit the gas fireplace then walked into the kitchen to get the tea and maybe the chocolates he had stashed in the tiny cupboard above the stove. He set the water to boil as he pulled out the necessary items and set them on a tray. Pulling down the box of candy he laid two dark chocolate truffles beside each cup. He fidgeted with the chocolates, taking one out and popping it into his mouth while he waited for the water to boil. It wasn't an overly sweet taste just barely and it was heaven dusted in cocoa powder. He pulled the boiling kettle off the stove and set it in the center of the tray on a hot pan holder. Then, tray in hand, he returned the living room.

Kakashi was busy making a soft warm nest from the blankets and looked up, smiling, as Iruka entered the room. "A fire, warm blankets, and you... Could this night get any better?" He chuckled, realizing how silly he must sound, but everything seemed so different this year. Suddenly, he was a part of one of those happy couples leaning close, kissing beneath the mistletoe, exchanging tokens of love, and keeping each other warm. Finally, he was looking forward to the holidays.